More From Serenbe

I didn’t have an internet connection after the first night at Serenbe, so I’m just now getting around to showing you more pictures.

Part of the fun was sitting around Friday night looking at each other’s art. Kathy had brought along Susie LaFond’s Pock-et-ful round robin book. It is house-shaped and is a real treasure. I understand why several of the artists have had a hard time sending it on to the next person.

We all stayed up way too late and had lots of fun. We woke up to a beautiful walk through the grounds and the garden to get to breakfast in the main house.

Even the gates and fences had a beautiful patina of lichen on them.

We spent the morning doing Catherine’s Altered Book Class. She is a fantastic teacher and really does a great job of teaching you little techniques along the way. Most of all, I was impressed with her comfort with letting each artist follow their own vision — she isn’t at all wrapped up in having people make what she has set for the class and seemed to really enjoy the variations people came up with while using the same materials. These are the books we made, all lined up, so you can see the little differences in them.

I love my little book (it’s the top right hand corner) and had just enough time to do a quick little spread, using a bible verse Karen’s sister Lauren had brought along. It is from the book of Isiah and reads, "My kindness shall not depart from thee."

Our other class on this day was called "Silhouettes" and involving putting layers of paints and washes and glazes, along with texturized and stamped layers, on copies of vintage dresses, then embellishing them. I thought this was the class I was least likely to enjoy– but I was wrong about that! The class was perfect for my love of heavily layered backgrounds and Catherine uses some wonderful techniques. Here are my dresses, part way completed. I’m hoping to finish and frame them later this week.

My Ravelry Patterns

What I’m Kniting Now

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